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Finally! We get through Rev 22! Don’t be Blue- There is much more to do!

As we study this and other prophetic books we need to heed the warning found in 2 Peter 1: 20-21. It is through misguided interpretations of scripture that false teachers are able to gain a foothold and thus corrupt the church with a false gospel and their false teachings and thus lead the babe in Christ astray and even some mature Christians are led down the wrong path by false teachers because of their devious and deceitful charm with words that please the mind but leave the heart and spirit in darkness. These false teachers are under the control of the father of lies and his demons. That is why it is so important for one to study the Bible for themselves so that they know when a false teacher is twisting the words of the gospel and then if one knows the TRUTH they will not be deceived and led astray down a path that leads to destruction. The devil loves to go to church and Bible Studies and prayer meetings, with the intent of perverting the gospel by infiltrating the congregations and influencing even the leaders of the church.

2 Peter 1:19-21

New King James Version (NKJV)

19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed,which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;20knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,21for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of Godspoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Once again we are in the final chapter of the final book of the Holy Scriptures. Again, for those who are in Christ and have their sins covered by His blood, this is a book of promise, a book, of hope, a book of reassurance. For the lost it is a book that describes the horrors of the wrath of the perfect justice of God. As we now come to verses 12-17 we see that these verses are from Jesus to the churches.

12“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.13I am the Alpha and the Omega,the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”14Blessed are those who do His commandments,that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.15Butoutside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.16“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”17And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

V12 Jesus is coming quickly, His appearing will be sudden and unexpected. His appearing will mean reward for the believer, a very strong incentive to remain obedient.

V114,15 This is the last of the seven beatitudes of Revelation. The blessing is access to the tree of life and will have the privilege of entering into the New Jerusalem, this blessing and this privilige is only for those who have perseevered in obedience to Christ thus keeping that relationship viable and intimate. The word “dogs” here is likely a term used to describe false teachers. This was also a common expression that the Jews used to refer to Gentiles. “loves and practices a lie” indicates a life dominated by falsehoods.

V 16 This verse echoes the words of Isaiah 11:1,10. Jesus is greater than David and is the rightful heir to the throne of David. Jesus is our comforting light in a dark world until we see the glory of the dawning of His return.

V 17 This is an open invitation of the Spirit, to anyone and everyone that will come to Christ and accept His gift of grace by faith.

The next few verses contain a very strong warning from the Lord Himself, not to be adding to or detracting from this book. There are two thoughts on this, one is that this warning is specifically for the book of Revelation, the other is that it is a warning not to tamper with the content of the entire canon.

18ForI testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will addto him the plagues that are written in this book;9and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take awayhis part from the Bookof Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

We come now to the conclusion of not only the book of Revelation but the conclusion of the entire commonly accepted canon of the Holy Scriptures.

20He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all Amen.

This is the hope and prayer of all believers that Jesus will come back and come back soon or quickly.

“Come, Lord Jesus” is the hope and prayer of all believers.

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ”- This books end as it began with this phrase.

This concludes our study of the book of Revelation. My prayer is that you have been blessed by this study and that your faith has been strengthened through this study.

As the new year begins, we will move on through out study of the Bible.

This study has shown us that the stage is set for the things ,prophesied in this book ,and that others such as Daniel and Ezekiel have spoken of to come to pass. One of the major warnings in all of prophesy is that the re will be false teachers and false messiahs appear on the scene. And that there will be an increase in the persecution of God’s people, and this includes both Jews and Christians. It is a reported fact that there were more Christians martyred during the twentieth century than in all the centuries before combined. Stay faithful and remain obedient and be aware of false teachers that promote the false doctrines of devils. With this in mind for the next study we will look at the books of 1 and 2 Peter and we will tackle the gospel of Mark also.